Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Performers of Harmony

[EmeraldSky]

Act 2: Choosing the First Play


"Extra, extra, read all about it! Theater coming soon to Harmony Town!" a news Meowth proclaimed as he held a newspaper depicting some concept art of the theater for the crowd in the square to see.

Ruby smiled as some of the townsfolk hurried to buy a paper, oohing and ahhing over the pictures of what the theater would look like when complete. "The word is out about our theater! The next question is what our grand opening show should be..."

"Well, we won't get very far with just the two of us." Lita mused. "So I asked around for anyone else willing to join us, and Brenna volunteered..."

"If you want, I can get our troupe registered with the Performance Guild." Ruby offered. "While you don't HAVE to do this, it's easy publicity if you are registered."

"Brenna and I will help brainstorm play ideas while you're away at the post office." Lita smiled. "We'll meet at my house, okay?"

"All right, I'll come join you after I get the Performance Guild paperwork sorted." Ruby smiled before dashing off towards the post office.

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Ruby balked when she discovered a Squirtle, a Gossifleur, and a Braxien at the dining room table with Lita. "Oh! More guests?" she asked.

"Shimmer saw the pictures of what the theater will look like when it's done, and wanted to pitch in as an actress and playwright." the Squirtle explained.

She smiled at the Braxien. "Then Charlotte overheard us talking, and offered to pitch in with mentor and trickster roles."

"But what kind of roles would you want to play, Brenna?" Ruby asked the Squirtle as she settled at the table.

Brenna thought for a moment. "I wouldn't mind being the hero's sidekick, but I'd actually prefer to narrate the story, whichever play we do."

Charlotte, meanwhile, set some back issues of "Theater Today" on the table. "I brought over some old 'Theater Today' issues for ideas..."

"...and I can go to the library and get some books of folk and fairy tales for ideas, if we need to." Shimmer volunteered.

"The 'Theater Today' issues should be more than enough for now." Lita assured Shimmer as she found a piece of paper. "Let's go through these and write down the names of plays we like first, then go from there."

"Remember, no sad endings if we can." Brenna cautioned. "We want everyone to enjoy our plays, so if any tears must fall, they should be tears of laughter, or tears of joy."

"Should we do a Robin Hood story or 'The Knights of the Round'?" Lita asked.

"We'd need a lot of actors for 'Knights of the Round', but keep that in mind for when we get a little more practice under our belts." Shimmer replied.

"We definitely need to do a Moltres tale--any version will do." Ruby agreed as she wrote "The Tale of Moltres" on the play list.

"Let's keep it somewhat simple for now." Lita assured the excited Scorbunny as she turned the page of the magazine she was looking through...

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After a while, Lita showed the group the final list of stories. "Okay...which one of all these should be our choice for our first play?"

"Think outside the 'Cinderella' or 'Snow White' box, if possible." Charlotte suggested.

"The Invulnerable Giant?" Brenna suggested.

"How would a giant work?" Lita wondered. "Pokemon on top of each other would look silly..."

"None of us has the experience to do animatronics..." Charlotte sighed as Lita crossed the story off the list.

"The Mage's Instruments?" Shimmer suggested. "Just change the boy to a girl and Aria could play the lead; since she can already play guitar, fiddle, and flute."

"We'll keep that one in mind..." Lita replied before reading the next play on the list. "How Solgaleo, Lunala, and Jirachi Were Saved?"

"That sounds fun!" Ruby smiled before reading another play name. "'The Queen of the Lonely Island'?"

"Nah..." the group chorused.

"Too depressing..." Shimmer agreed.

Lita crossed off the name, then addressed the others. "Are we agreed on 'How Solgaleo, Lunala, and Jirachi Were Saved?'"

Cheers went up at this. "Okay...next is going through the original story and deciding what we want to keep, change or leave out in the script." Lita explained.

"The original story involved a wood boy and his three friends saving Solgaleo, Lunala and Jirachi." Shimmer remembered. "But we can start at the point where Solgaleo, Lunala, and Jirachi disappear."

"Instead of playing out the same adventure scene three times, we can have three unique challenges to save the princesses and the Legendaries." Charlotte suggested. "This way, it's more interesting to the audience to see six unique challenges instead of the same thing three times."

"We can keep three heroes, but give them each two challenges." Brenna agreed.

"Next question--where would we get Solgaleo, Lunala, and Jirachi puppets?" Lita mused. "Most troupes, even the big ones, depict the Legendaries and larger Pokemon as puppets for practicality reasons."

"That being said, there are some plays where the writer explicitly wanted the Legendaries and big Pokemon as live actors." Ruby mused. "But our humble little troupe will cross into that region when we get there."

She turned business like again. "As for where we can get Legendary puppets, crew, and more cast members, we can start advertising the troupe even while the theater's still being built. Then once our theater is ready, we can hold auditions for the parts."

"I can write the script." Shimmer volunteered.

"I'll procure us some puppets and performers." Charlotte grinned, pleased at her poetic license.

"I'll make and hang the posters..." Lita smiled as she grabbed another piece of paper and started sketching out an idea for a poster. "Does Ruby want a role, or should she direct this play?"

"I'll be equally at home on the stage or in the director's chair." Ruby smiled at her companion. "I'll still do my best for a good show, wherever you want me."

Lita nodded. "What do you want to do, Brenna?"

"I'll be glad to narrate the story, and find us more actors, musicians, dancers, and other crew." Brenna replied.

Shimmer wrote "The Storyteller" on her cast list. "Well, that's one role decided..."

"We'll decide the others once the theater is ready." Lita assured Shimmer.

She looked outside to see the sun setting. "Wow...we spent all afternoon planning?"

She smiled at the group. "Thank you, all of you, for helping us get the troupe off the ground."

"Anytime!" Charlotte smiled.

"It is my pleasure." Shimmer agreed.

"I believe we can reach the Diamond rank, and perform in Luminous City's famous Beacon Theater." Brenna smiled. "Both you and Ruby have the heart and desire to see this to the end, and I intend to be there every step of the way, no matter how bumpy the way to stardom is."

With that, she, Ruby, Lita, Shimmer, and Charlotte put their hands and paws together. "Let's reach Luminous City together!"

To Be Continued...